This result caused the RESTENA Foundation and its DNS-LU service to exclaim that “leaving aside ‘reserved’ names, i.e. names mainly used to block a particular domain without using it, more than 97,000 .lu domain names are active on the web!” The figure is impressive given that Luxembourg has a population of approximately only 600,000 (according to Luxembourg Government figures), meaning that there is one .LU domain name for every six Luxembourg inhabitants.
RESTENA reported that more than 75% of .LU domain names are held by companies and organisations, while 25% of .LU domain names are held by individuals. The "prime motivator" is the promotion of activities, be they economic or not, which are undertaken within Luxembourg. More than 50% of .LU domain names are registered to holders resident in Luxembourg, followed by holders located in France, Belgium and Germany. Combined, they represent more than 80% of domain name holders.
According to RESTENA, the .LU domain name market is quite stable with an annual growth rate of 3% to 4% over the past two years and with an impressive renewal rate of approximately 80%. Guillaume-Jean Herbiet, Systems Engineer-PhD at RESTENA Foundation's DNS-LU service, has been quoted as saying that "not only do those who have a .LU keep it for a long time but there is also an increasing number of first time registrations - two major factors that clearly demonstrate both trust and stability of the .LU” .
With regard to future developments under .LU, RESTENA engineers are currently working on opening one and two-character .LU domain names for registration. These have been prohibited since 2000 primarily due to "security issues that could not only cause confusion between names but also allow malicious redirections." RESTENA is aiming to announce the opening of one and two-character domain name registrations during the first half of 2020.
To visit RESTENA's website, please click here.
If you would like any further information regarding the registration or recuperation of domain names under .LU, please contact David Taylor or Jane Seager.
